On Tuesday, July 12 I will reach a marijuana review milestone. Having pen & published 150 marijuana reviews. That includes marijuana photo galleries too. The last two reviews published, Cindy Bubbles and DJ Short’s Blueberry were donation from cannabis growers I know. From their personal head stash. Review 150 is another personal grower donation. Their samples were awesome. l am developing an excellent nug network of people who want to show off their efforts. Always looking for more. You can send your product to be reviewed to 1161 St. Clair Ave West, Toronto, ON, M6E 1B2.
I always write my reviews under the influence of the marijuana being reviewed. Usually rocking out on Blip to get the beat of my words down. If I had it together I would return to my original career as a music critic and do cannabis and album reviews. Rock out to a album to be reviewed while vaporizing marijuana also being reviewed. My influence is to take a music critic approach to my weed reviews. With a bit of food critic thrown in. Note, the music critic is sent everything. Developing a pallet takes time. Publicists pester professional critics (not food ones), offer dinners, passes and the like to curry favor. If weed arrived around here at the pace music, movies and other culture sent to alt-weeklies like NOW I’d have to hire a staff.
It’s more difficult to be critical with weed because it’s generally all very, very, good. The people handing me buds are proud of their homegrown grass. They want to show someone who will appreciate it by photographing and blogging their senses. In other words I’m getting cream.
Rarely am I afforded an opportunity to review the same strain twice. I’ve had a few strains several times now. Especially my favorite Jean Guy. I can even identify her.
Then exactly what are we judging? The grower, the genetics or the bud. Or combination of all three. I believe all of the above. Some weed is well grown, but doesn’t do diddly for my health condition or have a solid marijuana high. Then there’s weed that works for me and isn’t well grown. Flush your plants! Breeders do produce strains that do just suck Cartman’s balls.
Marijuana grown by two different people will produce different results. Based on skill level, nutrients and soil. Presuming both received equal genetics. One growers seed maybe fresh and vibrant while another receives old tired beans.
A goal we have is to hold a grower competition involving the same strain. Everyone picks up their clone on the same day and returns 90 later with finished result. With the clone producer not allowed to compete as they grew the mother plant.

Medical Marijuana, Inc will begin to sell CBD and non-THC Cannabidiol products as health and wellness products in the United States in August of 2011. These products do not contain THC and therefore don’t carry a risk of addiction and abuse for those who use medical marijuana for what others perceive to be purely social enjoyment.

The first lines of products are to be distributed to more than two thousand health and wellness centers throughout the United States as well as direct to consumers through the Hemp Network, a division of Medical Marijuana Inc (www.thehempnetwork.com). The products will be available in a CBD tablet, CBD capsule, and CBD-infused beverage line, all which carry the health and wellness benefits of CBD cannabis extract.

The Hemp Network Mission Statement says they’re great people who are out to promote Hemp through education and political awareness. The Hemp Network is also a division of the company Medical Marijuana, Inc so “the Network” is in place to raise awareness and creation reception for a product that will be manufactured/distributed by Medical Marijuana Inc.

That’s so win-win..or is it?

Medical Marijuana, Inc is also in negotiations with Europe and China in hopes of getting distribution deals as more and more people become receptive to the idea that hemp is beneficial and profitable. The same can be said about marijuana; I wonder if this group’s hemp products actually offers some therapeutic benefits or if it’s merely an association game to exploit the buckling medical marijuana market since the Feds pulled that bullsh*t last week.

In June, Medical Marijuana Inc also acquired a 50% stake in Cannabank, a patient recommendation clinic. They seem to be moving toward controlling public perception and offering information to those seeking alternative therapies.

This is big and I’ll definitely keep you posted. Once the marijuana industry starts to maneuver strategy like standard businesses do, we may have a chance at getting legalized weed. However, I also see corporate exploitation and trickery but for now who knows so let’s all just stay tuned…

Medical Marijuana Inc announced today that as of August 1, 2011 its initial Cannabidiol (CBD) and THC Free Product lines will be available for consumers in the United States.

The first lines of products are to be distributed to more than two thousand health and wellness centers throughout the United States as well as direct to consumers through the Hemp Network, a division of Medical Marijuana Inc ( http://www.thehempnetwork.com ). The products will be available in a CBD tablet, CBD capsule, and CBD-infused beverage line, all which carry the health and wellness benefits of CBD cannabis extract.

For more information about the health benefits of Cannabidiol (CBD) please visit the following United States Health Department Patent # 6,630,507, titled “Cannabis as Antioxidants and Neuroprotectants” (see http://tinyurl.com/6hwwmt ). This article explains many of the benefits of Cannabis and specifically Cannabidiol (CBD).

Medical Marijuana Inc is reviewing the previous offers from distributors for these products in China and Europe, negotiations are expected to conclude by August 1, 2011.

ABOUT MEDICAL MARIJUANA INC

Our mission is to be the world’s premier cannabis and hemp industry innovators, leveraging our team of professionals to source, evaluate, invest in and purchase value-added sustainable companies, while allowing them to keep their integrity and entrepreneurial spirit. We strive to create awareness within our industry, pay homage to the visionaries and activists of the past and present, provide the platform from which the industry can emerge into a global sustainable economy for all. Medical Marijuana Inc recognizes the vast and unequaled opportunities that exist in the rapidly expanding hemp and medical marijuana industries. The scientific recognition of cannabis has brought legalized marijuana use to the forefront of mainstream discussion, thus opening the door for safe and lucrative investment opportunities.

You tip a waitress don’t you? So why not throw a couple of extra bucks for a person that takes care of your weedy needs? As a Cali MMJ patient, I’m able to frequent any number of collectives in California. It’s nice when I’m traveling within the state to visit a collective and pick up a local strain or bud. One of the local collectives I frequent here in Los Angeles, has had a sign behind the counter saying “Budtender’s Appreciation Day 7-11-11” forever, so I decided to ask what it was all about.

“I don’t really know” was the first answer one of them gave me. I later found out it was a day they had come up with on their own. It got me thinking. BudTenders DO provide a necessary service to MMJ patients and have to put up with a LOT of shit from patients and bosses, so why shouldn’t they have their own day?! . People may “think” a budtender’s job would be the tits having access to so much weed everyday. Wrong-O! Try waiting on people that are finicky, bitchy and abusive for 10 hours a day for pretty humble wages.

We have Secretaries Day so why not Budtender’s Appreciation Day?

If anyone can make this day a reality and a movement for all the budtenders out there, it’s Hail Mary Jane and OUR GREENIES!!

So this July 11th, when you are at your favorite collective picking up your meds, why not surprise your Budtender with a tip, a gift, a hug or just tell them how important they are. Make your Budtender feel special on their day! Remember 4:20 started somewhere too!

he administration of the non-psychotropic cannabinoid CBD (cannabidiol) induces selective apoptosis in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs), according to preclinical findings reported in the journal Cell Death and Disease. The activation of HSCs is considered to be a key cellular event underlying hepatic fibrogenesis (excessive tissue build up), a condition that can result in liver failure.

Authors reported: “In this study, we find that CBD selectively kills activated HSCs. … We provide a molecular basis of action for CBD and identify CBD as a novel potential therapeutic agent for liver fibrosis.”

They concluded, “These promising findings warrant future investigation evaluating the anti-fibrotic effect of CBD in vivo. The prospect of CBD as a new anti-fibrotic compound is rendered more appealing by the fact that CBD is a non-psychoactive small drug-like molecule already approved for clinical use in many countries.”

Liver fibrosis is the tenth leading cause of death in the United States.

Synthetic marijuana is interesting because of who would choose to use it. Yes, marijuana is illegal, especially on the recreational front, but weed dealers abound, and it’s easily the most common drug you’ll find just about everywhere. College dorm room, city street corner, random dude’s apartment, NYC mother’s medicine cabinet, the list could go on and on because there is such a ubiquitous nature to the drug, so what’s with this synthetic stuff?

What’s the allure? I get the allure of other drugs, but why would you want a synthetic compound nature grows so fabulously on it’s own? Why am I posing this question to imaginary readers, and why am I now posing a question to myself about asking imaginary readers (aside from the usual drivel about egomaniacal behavior); it’s because the inventor of synthetic marijuana DOES NOT WANT YOU TO SMOKE IT. READ ON to find out why (if my lede and your common sense didn’t answer the question for you already).

He’s now Professor Emeritus at South Carolina, but John Huffman is the inventor of the fake cannabis you see on the market today. As an organic chemist at Auburn University, Professor Huffman invented the appetite stimulant known as JWH 018–which mimics the effects of THC. The JWH -018 compound he invented was used to make the cannabinoids like Kronic you could enjoy as synthetic marijuana (until the DEA banned it).

The use of his work did not surprise him at all, “He said he was ‘not the least bit surprised’ that the compound had been adapted to make cannabinoids, such as Kronic, which was widely available throughout New Zealand and Australia.” That doesn’t mean he’s not concerned with its use, and he did not equivocate when asked whether people should indulge in the cannabinoid knock-offs that have sprung up in the wake of his discovery:

“Stop.”

“It can lead to serious psychological problems… It’s not known if they are irreversible.”

Imitation-cannabis products, largely manufactured in China, were marketed in the US as Spice or K2, and producers “wouldn’t listen as long as they are making money”, he said.

However, Professor Huffman stopped short of recommending NZ ban or even reclassify the product.

“It’s probably useless. Marijuana has been illegal in the United States since 1937.”

Well, it’s illegal unless the new bill gets passed, but Professor Hoffman isn’t the only one who warns against the synthetic alternatives.

One person supporting a ban is Dr Leo Schep, a toxicologist with the Dunedin-based National Poisons Centre, who said people should take heed of Professor Huffman’s warnings over the effects of synthetic cannabis.

“He would know this product better than anyone else in the world.

“If he said don’t use it, I would respect that opinion.”

There is a lot of tasty nugget out there which isn’t a cheap knock-off that may or may not be legal or good for you. Marijuana is from the earth, and the only side-effects after centuries of testing is munchies and giggling (there are others–but this is a pro marijuana blog and I don’t have the time to get into them). Stick with real herb, and leave the synthetic crap to idiots that are too scared or stupid to find the real thing. It’s just not worth it.